Gavin Kaysen to Leave Café Boulud

Gavin Kaysen, who has been the executive chef at Café Boulud for the past seven years, will leave the restaurant in June. He will return to his hometown, Minneapolis, where he plans to open his own restaurant, Merchant.

“I always had a dream to open my own restaurant and when I was home last summer it came to me that it was the right time,” said Mr. Kaysen, who spoke from Yountville, Calif., where he is helping train chefs to compete on behalf of the United States in the Bocuse d’Or next year.

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Gavin KaysenCreditRebecca Sapp/Getty Images for AEG

While working for the Dinex Group, Daniel Boulud’s company, Mr. Kaysen, 34, oversaw not just the original Café Boulud, which opened on the Upper East Side in 1998, but also the other iterations in Palm Beach, Fla., and Toronto. “Gavin has been an integral part of our family of chefs and always understood well what Café Boulud represented for me – the importance of blending the French tradition with creative ethnic inspiration,” Mr. Boulud said in an announcement.

Mr. Kaysen, who had been discussing the move with Mr. Boulud for several months, will be succeeded by Aaron Bludorn, 29, who has come up through the ranks at Café Boulud and is now the chef de cuisine there. Mr. Boulud said that Mr. Bludorn would certainly put his imprint on the menu, though the format, in four parts with titles like La Tradition, La Saison and Le Voyage, would remain.

Mr. Kaysen added that he thinks his cohort of younger chefs, who have worked closely with prominent chefs like Mr. Boulud and others, will increasingly be inspired to relocate in other parts of the country, not just big cities, and add their expertise to those places.